Although crime is dropping in Los Angeles, there is one glaring exception: bicycle thefts, which rose 29 percent last year, it was reported today.

Nearly 2,000 bikes were reported stolen last year, and authorities believe the actual number of thefts was much higher because so many people don’t report stolen bikes, the Los Angeles reported.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives believe the increase is due in part to more people using bikes to get around in some neighborhoods. A Times analysis of LAPD data found the USC campus area, Venice, parts of Hollywood and downtown L.A. to be hot spots for bike thefts.

LAPD detectives recently broke up a downtown bicycle theft ring and nabbed two men who allegedly swiped bikes downtown and sold them on Craigslist.com, The Times reported. At the motel of one of the alleged thieves, they found bolt cutters, hacksaws and a Mercedes-Benz equipped with a bike rack.

Some bike messengers last month took justice into their own hands when they caught two suspected thieves, teenage boys who attended a local Catholic high school, The Times reported. According to police, the messengers stripped down the teens to their boxer shorts before taking their cellphones, backpacks and clothes.

Investigators said they cannot prove the boys were stealing bikes and are continuing to look for the assailants.